I stand a new creation.

Photo Credit: Jordan Murray

"I see a near revival

Stirring as we pray and seek

We're on our knees

We're on our knees

Hosanna

Hosanna

Hosanna in the highest

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause

As I walk from earth into eternity"

"This is my revelation
Christ Jesus crucified
Salvation through repentance
At the cross on which He died

Now here my absolution
Forgiveness for my sin
And I sink beneath the waters
That Christ was buried in

I will rise
I will rise
As Christ was raised to life
Now in Him
Now in Him
I live

I stand a new creation
Baptised in blood and fire
No fear of condemnation
By faith I'm justified"

-Sarah

Our Hectic Week. :)

"Jane...Jane stop struggling so like a wild, frantic bird!"

(Pardon my lapse into a quote)

We have had rather a crazy week--thus the lack of posts! Last Sunday Dad, Sarah, and I took a roadtrip up to Patrick Henry College to collect Daniel who was just flying into Dulles airport from iGovern West in Colorado. That was oodles of fun, and we took lots of pictures! (There will be a post about that later)

Then mid-week we had an exciting little earthquake.

Then Thursday we had company and I went out for a birthday/graduation day with the T. girls.

Then Friday our black lab/shepherd mix, Licorice, got hit by a car. :( Her femur and a spot in her hip are fractured (spiral-style.) and the price to fix it would have been monumental (think $2,500 or more) so we were left with two choices:

Put her down or amputate her leg. We chose the path of the tri-paw'd. We have been keeping her crated and taking her out now and then to go to the bathroom, but the vet didn't want to do the surgery till Monday.

Then our stunning vet-tecchy-ish friend, Abigail, said that their office could do the amputation much cheaper, so tomorrow Daniel and I (and maybe Sarah) are off to drive down to Warrenton, NC to get poor Licky fixed up. She'll have her surgery Tuesday morning [I think], then recover overnight at least, but perhaps into Thursday. We can't know until we see. :)

It was a hard knock for poor Licorice but I am overjoyed to get to spend the better part of the week mooning around Abigail's house! ;)

Oh! And as if the week wasn't busy enough, we had a smashing storm! Hurricane Irene came through and though she didn't have *quite* the winds they thought she'd have, we got at least 12 inches of rain from her!!! (Some places along our corridor got 16!! I'm not sure if we were in there) We had all the Walkers here too, since their mobile home was a little scary in the high winds. So 21 people, an injured dog, a perfectly fine dog, a hyper cat, a sleepy guinea pig to keep us company! :) Interesting, interesting week! But for the record, apart from the car hitting the dog, it's been a blast! I love intense weather--I can feel God's power so clearly in it! And the scouring of yesterday is resulting in absolutely drop-dead gorgeous weather this morning!

Church was cancelled for today due to the hurricane so we are just hanging out here, will probably have some family worship-time, that sort of thing. I ought to be going!

~Rachel

"Cuz Their's No Blue Mondays In Your Sunday Clothes!"

(Or something along those lines! ;)

So, taking Miss Jo March's idea of a Saturday Morning Daybook, this will be a one-time Sunday evening.....nightbook? :P Anyway, enjoy it if it pleases you to read past that most incoherent sentence.

Date: June 26th, 2011

Starting time: 8:28 p.m.

Mood: content, pensive, dreamy, wistful

Outside my window: the remains of a sunset, the dusk creeping over the earth to cover it in a warm darkness

I'm thinking: I had an amazing afternoon with friends I hadn't realized I'd missed so woefully until they were here and I couldn't stop hugging them and smiling at them. *lump in throat* :' )

I'm currently reading: Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore--amazing book.

I'm listening to: Grace's bedtime c.d....classical music mixed with surprisingly realistic nature sounds. :) Very soothing and fitting my mood.

I'm wearing: a fifty's style cotton dress....courtesy of a dear friend, courtesy of a thrift store, courtesy of goodness knows where.

I'm looking forward to: My graduation....if I can stop worrying about my speech

I'm hoping: that I will get married someday. :) Preferably before I'm an "old maid". :D (Though I warrant not-quite-19 is a tad too young to start worrying :P)

Yesterday I: took everyone on a picnic, acted most unlike a heroine by fastening my hair under my chin like a beard, taking Leah's arm, and singing "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree" to her while Sarah filmed us.....generally had a silly, laughable time. :)

I'm hungry for: Hm....hungry wouldn't quite be the word....but I'd go for a Dairy Queen blizzard right about now.... ;)

Song stuck in my head: None currently, but earlier it was "You Can't Get a Man With A Gun" from Annie Get Your Gun. :D Very funny song!

I love: dearer than dear friends who are made all the more dear because you've been deprived of their company far too long.... Jane Eyre....dimples....heroes.....Broadway Musicals. :)

I loathe: Stepping on spilled sugar... tight waistbands...embarrassing moments....colds in summertime. :)

This week my goal is: Finish a present for a friend, finish writing my speech, stop worrying about Wisdom Teeth Surgeries (JULY 6TH!!!! :{ )

Quote of the week:

*Me, talking to Sarah's camera at the picnic when she said she'd put the video on the blog*

"You poor blogging people...you probably think we're.....loonies! You probably think we are all from the Crazy Barn....oh wait! Funny Farm!" *busts up laughing* :D

Finishing Time: 8:40 p.m.

Several Things. Just Come Read Them.

Hey guys! I had such fun doing the last post! Who would have thought that I'd be correct on most of the ones! (At least, the people that answered!) We may have to change our background for Mr. Alexander who feels he cannot be caught reading a blog decked out in flowers! ;)
Thanks for telling me if I was right or not! I really just guessed random things about each person, though for a couple like Anna's, it was an educated guess. (She takes such great pictures)
Okay. So. Does anyone, at some point, want to read the plot of my mystery novel I had been writing? I am under a solemn oath to finish it for Sarah, Daniel, and Alaina, but haven't picked it back up.
Yesterday after church, the new time got the better of us, and three families stayed till 7:00!! Gasp! We had alot of fun though! We did some Civil War dances, and the Virginia Reel. (All without music mind you!) I am afraid it was more like gallumphing than dancing!
Okay. So here is the verse the Lord showed me last night to take to heart for the week:

Psalm 27:13-14 " I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!"

I just loved the victorious sound of those words, and the promise that goes with them. Isn't that what we all want? For Jesus to strengthen our hearts? That is what I want. And that is what my Lord has promised me! -Rachel

Oh Phooey. What Should I Write About?

Hey! Church today was pretty fun, there was a new visitor! We always love to see new faces! This guy is from a family of 11 kids and came an hour and 45 minutes to come visit. Two of his brothers work for Scott Brown's ministry, so we felt slightly as if we were meeting someone famous. ;)
Okay. Have you ever watched anyone in a movie or somewhere else say something and think, "Wow! That was extremely ill-timed!"
I do it all the time! For instance, in Little Women, Jo has just refused Laurie, and is being comforted by Beth. Amy comes upstairs and asks what's wrong, listens with a rather blank countenance, and promptly says, "Aunt March is going to Europe." and then interrupts Jo's ecstasy by saying bluntly. "She's taking me."
Isn't that crazy? I know for a fact that if Sarah had just refused somebody, and Uncle Lon had told me he was taking me to France, I wouldn't spring that on her at that moment! I simply can't understand how anyone could be so tactless! :O
(If you haven't noticed, this is a very random post.)
So. I think Anna's blasted goat will go down in the history of "Goatdome" as the slowest in giving birth EVER!!!! She has been "having her kids in 12 hours" since we came home from the trip!!!
(Apparently the "for sure" signs that she'll give birth aren't that "for sure" because we have witnessed all of them days apart during the last week!) This deserves some sort of strange award. Maybe I should make one up: The Daisy Sophia Award: Bestowed upon the creature, human or otherwise who takes the longest in labor. (But I doubt any mother would welcome such an award! :) Whatever.
Vision Forum agains postponed their judging date for the story contest. I highly doubt I'll win anyway, so I am sort of forgetting about it, and will be pleasantly surprised if they come and dump a thousand dollars in my lap! :) Well, that's about all that's new around here! -Rachel

p.s. I'll get to Leanna's post soon enough! Oh! And Abigail, we decided to let you choose one too!

Sundays At a Home-Church

Hello Everyone! Hope you guys are all having a good day! Here is a list of things we'll be doing: (not that you really want to hear them :)
Clean the house for hosting church
Shampoo the carpets for church
Clean the house for church
Make some food for church
Make iced tea for church
Clean the house for church
Clean the house for church....

You get the idea! But it is a lot of fun hosting church!! At our home church there are about 100 people. I could get Sarah's list and tell you how many kids we have of each age, because there are a lot of kids. But I won't bore you with that! Anyway, the church is probably 3/4 of the way made up of children and young adults. We only have about 10 or 11 families that come. (and that includes a few elderly couples) So make that about 8 true "families" and that is an average of something like 10 kids a family.
Anyhoo! So people start coming to our house around 10:00. Usually we are still setting up chairs in the living room, making iced tea, etc. We all stand around and talk about various and sundry things like the weather, the week's news, and what we will do after church, and then one of the elders (My Dad, Mr. Scott Wilson, or Mr. Don) corrals everyone into the living room. So we seat ourselves on whatever we can find (Sometimes we end up on the floor because there are seldom enough chairs for everyone) and then have worship time. Usually Daniel, Katie Wilson, and Alaina and Justin W. play their guitars as accompaniment. I love the singing time! Though generally, (Ask Aaron K. or Hannah Wilson) I sneak out of the living room to remove my yowling cat from the laundry room and lock her in bedroom. It is my weekly sport :) After that, one of the elders, and one or two selected men share whatever they have brought, and then we have prayer request and prayer time, and usually close with a song and announcements about how the yard is muddy from all the rain so don't go playing football! :) At this point we all are starving, as it is often after 1:00 before we are through, so we older girls and the Moms set out the food, and we go through the line: Moms first, then older daughters, then children, then men, then boys. The boys always complain that there is not a scrap of food left for them, especially not dessert. It is true- they are generally left with strange rice dishes or collards, or something of that sort. So whenever I make a dessert, I try to split it up and hide away some for the boys. I do feel badly for them!
After lunch we move into Bible Boot Camp time, which is like Bible Drill. That takes nearly an hour when all is said and done. After that, everyone breaks outside and plays until they must be torn away to leave. In the summer we have a mighty crowded volleyball court! About 20 kids on each side! Yeah. We trip each other up most of the time! :)A lot of times Morgan and I go walking arm-in-arm around the field or yard just discussing things. I love our little strolls and tete-tetes m'love! *smiles at Mistress Morgan* Anyhow usually the last people don't leave till around 4:30 or 5:00, and then we finish whatever clean-up is left, and then Mama and Dad go out for their date/meeting night. So there you have it; our Sunday around here. Hope I didn't put anyone to sleep with my recitation! I love hosting church because we are always the first ones there, and the last ones there! (Otherwise, we are always late) See some of you tomorrow! :) -Rachel